Importance of English in India
THE IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN THE
NATIONAL LIFE OF INDIA TODAY
From 26 January 1965 Hindi has been declared the official language of India. But along with it, in terms of the official Language Bill passed in April, 1963, English may also continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union. India's Parliament has thus already provided an answer to the question posed here. The answer is we cannot do without English.
The circumstances in which English was introduced in India are recorded in history. Although it was primarily imported to facilitate the work of our British ruler, it served India too in many ways. If we look at it from this angle, we owe a debt of gratitude to the English language which not only helped to bring about national unity but also inspired and guided our efforts to win independence.
It is a fact that English is spoken and understood all over the globe. It is the national language of Great Britain,the United States, Canada,Newzealand,Australia. It is used in former British colonies all over Asia and Africa.It has been and is serving as our window on the world.If we decide to do without it, our contacts with all these countries will be stopped by the limitations imposed on us by the language in which we chose to deal with them. We shall thus be planning restrictions on overselves without gaining any corresponding advantage. Even inside the country, we can harldy do without English so long as Hindi does not become an effective instrument for administering a big multilingual country like ours. So long as it does not become a universally acceptable medium of interstate communicfation if we decide to do without English ,the loss will be entirely
NATIONAL LIFE OF INDIA TODAY
From 26 January 1965 Hindi has been declared the official language of India. But along with it, in terms of the official Language Bill passed in April, 1963, English may also continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union. India's Parliament has thus already provided an answer to the question posed here. The answer is we cannot do without English.
The circumstances in which English was introduced in India are recorded in history. Although it was primarily imported to facilitate the work of our British ruler, it served India too in many ways. If we look at it from this angle, we owe a debt of gratitude to the English language which not only helped to bring about national unity but also inspired and guided our efforts to win independence.
It is a fact that English is spoken and understood all over the globe. It is the national language of Great Britain,the United States, Canada,Newzealand,Australia. It is used in former British colonies all over Asia and Africa.It has been and is serving as our window on the world.If we decide to do without it, our contacts with all these countries will be stopped by the limitations imposed on us by the language in which we chose to deal with them. We shall thus be planning restrictions on overselves without gaining any corresponding advantage. Even inside the country, we can harldy do without English so long as Hindi does not become an effective instrument for administering a big multilingual country like ours. So long as it does not become a universally acceptable medium of interstate communicfation if we decide to do without English ,the loss will be entirely